Monday, September 29, 2014

Paramount Home Media
Distribution has selected Nov. 4 for a three-SKU helping of director Brett
Ratner’s surprise summer sword and sandal hit, Hercules, starring
none-other than Dwayne Johnson as the legendary son of Zeus.

The ARR is 102 days and
ticket sales were a robust $72.1 million.

Planned for release are a
stand-alone DVD edition, plus two Blu-ray/DVD Combo Pack SKUs — one with, and
one without a 3D viewing option.

This is a film that could
have gone horribly wrong.Dwayne “The
Rock” Johnson as Hercules, the son of Zeus — the late Steve Reeves reborn — on
paper it just looked like a really bad concept ready to be translated into a
very bad summer movie.

But guess what, filmmaker
Brett Ratner, who seemed like an unlikely candidate for this type of period piece,
combined nicely (style-wise) with Johnson’s winning screening persona to
deliver a film that certainly surprised those who took up an aisle seat at the
local multiplex expecting nothing more than a two-hour diversion.

Johnson has never looked
better — a real action hero, with a physic to carry it off without being
cartoonish — the story is engaging and Ratner’s direction fits nicely with
his sly-style.

It would not come as a
surprise if Paramount has the makings of an action franchise here … it is
certainly worth considering.

Bonus features include an
introduction by Johnson and Ratner, commentary teaming director Brett Ratner (Rush
Hour, Red Dragon, X-Men: The Last Stand, etc.) with
producer Beau Flynn (Red Dawn, Journey to the Center of the
Earth, Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters, etc.), plus there are 15
deleted (or extended) scenes and four production featurettes — “Hercules and
his Mercenaries,” “Weapons!,” “The Bessi Battle” and “The Effects of
Hercules.”Exclusive to the Blu-ray
SKUs are an extended cut of the film.